Halfway through “Man to Man” the requisite separation begins. Seol-woo extricates himself from the woman he fell in love with and from his bromance with Woon-gwang in order to return to his ghost agent duties. While sad, he seems ready to deal with the separation until, of course, circumstances brings them all back together again.

Seung-jae is to blame for the reunification of Seol-woo with Do-ha and Woon-gwang, but not in a good way. He is the mastermind behind the manipulation of funds and government in order to secure his power in Seoul politics. He cuts off Jang’s access to NIS funds, has him suspended, and threatens his girlfriend, causing Seol-woo to search elsewhere for support and funds. Where better to look than with rich and famous actor Woon-gwang and his crafty manager Do-ha? While the bromance is wonderfully reinvigorated, Do-ha still aching from her recent heartbreak is much more reticent. But this is the stuff that drama lovers adore and Park Hae-jin and Kim Min-jeong work the separation angst to the fullest. Perhaps the most effective part of the separation is how mercilessly Laywer Lee teases Seol-woo for his lovelorn behavior and how Woon-gwang’s crew things that he and Guard Kim got into a fight. It’s the silly things that really propel this drama forward. The actual intrigue with the missions and bad guys is not as neatly wrought.

Rogue ghost agent Seo Gi-cheol has betrayed Seung-jae and Congressman Baek and is currently in jail. He’s given Seol-woo the location of Agent Yoon, the deceased agent who stashed the items Seung-jae is so desperately searching for. His lack of loyalty to any person or cause makes Gi-cheol a wild card. I wonder if he’ll begin to work with Seol-woo.

Mi-eun finally got a bit more exciting. She quits working with Jang and the NIS to side with her husband – she also completely gives up on Woon-gwang. The reasoning is a little vague, but from what I gather it’s because deep down somewhere she loves Seung-jae and because she’s worried about being with her son. Seung-jae has threatened her time with her son using his power, and that scared her, and me! He will even toy with his child to get what he wants.

As for the reunification of Woong-gwang, Do-ha, and Seol-woo, Woon-gwang hires Seol-woo back as his body guard in exchange for loaning him and NIS the money for an upcoming mission to acquire the next artifact that Agent Yoon hid. I’m glad for the reinstatement of this trio in the format in which we originally fell in love with them. Now, let’s see how this mission goes.

Written by: Lisa Espinosa AKA Rainefrom ‘Raine’s Dichotomy’

“Man to Man” is directed by Kim Sang-ho-I and Lee Chang-min-I, written by Kim Won-seok-II, and features Park Hae-jin, Kim Min-jeong, Park Sung-woon, and Yeon Jeong-hoon.